Describing Silence (6 Distortions)

In June last year, I managed to spend an hour in UCL’s anechoic chamber. This space is one of the quietest places in the city, if not in the world: isolated from all external sounds through thick insulation and a ‘floating floor’, its inside walls are covered in fibreglass wedges to prevent any noise you make from reflecting back to you. The Speech Communication Lab use this space to record stimuli without any contaminating noise; for me, it was a strange acoustic environment that I wanted to explore. And so I sat in there for 20 minutes with the lights off, listening, and then tried to recall the strange half-hallucinated aural ecosystem that a living body produces and that the absence of all other sound had allowed me to hear. You can listen to an extract from my rambling monologue here:

To create the series of poems that follow, I treated this source material by transcribing it and then reading it aloud into my computer’s speech-to-text converter. As the machine translated speech back into text, it introduced errors which I allowed to propagate, and added to with my own mishearings and deviations. Over a number of generations, this produced the following series, which I think of as restoring lost resonances and reverberations to the first text, produced as it was in the acoustically ‘dry’ context of the anechoic room.

- James Wilkes

Describing Silence (6 Distortions)

1.
So there’s a sort of phasing sound to the, to the right
almost like sound behind the scenes, almost like a sound
Like might sound sound, remains of something metallic
It’s very very quiet but it’s there. And it’s, it’s kind of phasing in and out
And I was getting almost like an, almost like a linen linnet call which was kind of quite highly
Armed against the right, but not quite high up. It was a sort of Crete twittering sound
Quite faint but it was really persistent like a sort of dawn chorus, or something that was going on and on.
And then I heard my stomach vehicle
And then I started getting an heart of gold, I and Neil young, was just kind of playing out in my head
and that was kind of annoying and I couldn’t stop it
And I think that was cos I remembered I heard it on the radio this morning
he’s got quite, quite a whiny voice. And that was just kinda fun playing up
Waiting for a hard and cold
Like that arm, which is, which is irritating

2.

So there’s a sort of pheasant sounding to the, to the right
sound behind the curtains almost like a, like a sound
Like might sound sound, bouncing onto something metallic
It’s very very quiet because it’s there. And it’s this kind of phasing in and out
And I was getting almost like a, almost like their linseed oil call, which was kind of quite
Armed against the right, a sort of creature’s twittering sound or
Quite faint but it was really persistent like a sort of dawn french or something
and then I, then I heard my Subaru
And then I started a heart of gold attack and Neil young was kind of playing out my head
And that was kind of annoying and I couldn’t. Stop it
And I think that was cos I remembered I heard it on the radio this morning
And that was just kinda fun plainchant time
Waiting for a hard unfold
Like that arm which is, which is irritating

3.

So there’s a sort of sandpit sand to the, to the right
Sound behind the curtains almost like a sound
Like might pounds sound or um, or a pressure attack
It’s, and it’s very very minor because Neil’s there and he’s this kind of sealskin in and out
And I was getting almost like a, almost like their sealed oil call which was kind of quite
Bagpipes against the right. A sort of creature of scripture and sound
Quiet, thinking it was really persistent, like a sort of French polish of something
And then I heard my superior um
And then I started a denial of gold attack and the youngster was kind of playing in my head
And that was kind of annoying. Can you stop it?
Nothing else could I remember was very um, I heard on the radio this morning
And that was just kinda fun kind of almost like a plane tree whistling, waiting
Waiting for a hard and cold
By the arm, by the hairs which is irritating

4.

So this is the sandpit – the, almost the mudflats to the right
Sound behind the curtains in the slightest sound
Like the soundest pounds in wartime for the pressure
It’s, it’s very very minor because Neil’s their analyst. A kind of serious cleaning out
Another thing almost. Like almost like seals will call which is kind of a spit
Like bagpipes against the rights of creatures for, for sensation and sound
Quiet fins in the persistent noise of French polish have something
And then I heard my, my almost superior
Inner started a denial of gold at her and at the youngsters playing in my head
And hours, at um nine can you stop it
Nothing else I could remember was very young, very kind of ahead on the radio this morning
A kinder farm is almost like a plane tree whistling waiting
Waiting for a home told like that, like
By the arm, by the heritage it’s irritating

5.

So there’s a sort of a face in the sand-dunes to the right
A sound behind, a sort of like a tunnel at the slightest sound
But the soundest pound is creep-creeping down for the pressure
Like a sort of minah bird or something because neither serves that serious cleaning out
Another thing, almost like, almost like seals will call as a mark of respect
Clydebank hopes against the rights of creatures for a sense, a sensational sound
Quiet things in the persistent noise of a, a Republican polis or something
And then I heard my mother almost superior
And started at another goal there and the canisters playing in my head
And ours, at nine can use the, the stomach gurgle
Nothing else, I was very young, very kind of ahead of the radio this morning
A kind of rubbed crackle almost like a tree waiting
Waiting for a home goal line by line
By the arm, by the heritage incident at last

6.

So there’s a sort of face of Monteverdi to the right
A sound behind, a sort of like a tidy up sound, the slightest sound
But the old town’s discreet creeping down for the pressure
Letters should have minded lettuce there, that serious um, serious cleaning out
An almost like wax seal, almost like an eel’s seal that marks the respect
Quite faint hopes against the right creature for a sense of, almost of gold
Quiet things, quit things and the persistent noise of their politicians and
And then I heard my mother almost whisper
And started another goal then the canisters playing in my head
And there is a nice clean, almost mud-track for their the off-road vehicle
And nothing else. I was very much, very kind of ahead of the radio this morning
The kind of red cattle and Mr. Petrie waiting
Waiting for her own goal line by line
By the arm by the wrecked heritage incident, at last